HC Deb 24 February 1921 vol 138 cc1261-2

  1. (1) From on and after the third day of July, nineteen hundred and twenty-one, the contributions payable under the principal Act in respect of employed persons by those persons and their employers shall be at the rates set out in the First Schedule to this Act instead of at the rates specified in Part I of the Third Schedule to the principal Act, and the contribution to be made out of moneys provided by Parliament shall, instead of being a contribution at the rates specified in Part II of the First Schedule to the principal Act, be at a rate equal to one-fourth of the aggregate amount of the contributions paid in respect of the employed person by himself and his employer, and Sub-sections(3) and (7) of Section five of the principal Act shall have effect accordingly.
  2. (2) For the purpose of determining the amount of unemployment benefit to which any person is entitled at any time after the second day of July, nineteen hundred and twenty-two, no account shall be taken of any benefit which may have been received by that person at any time in respect of the period between the commencement of the principal Act and before the third day of July, nineteen hundred and twenty-two, and there shall be deemed to have been paid previously to that date in the case of every person who is an insured contributor at that date, twenty-five contributions in addition to the contributions actually paid in respect of him:
  3. Provided that any additional contributions credited under the foregoing provision shall not be taken into account for the purpose of determining whether any person satisfies the first statutory condition, or for the purposes of Section twenty-five of the principal Act, which provides for the repayment in certain cases of part of the contributions paid by employed persons.
  4. (3) If at any time while the contributions payable by employers and employed persons under the principal Act are payable at the rates fixed by this Act it appears to the Minister that the rates of those contributions are excessive, he may with the consent of the Treasury by regulations under that Act reduce those rates by not more than two-pence, but any regulations made under this Sub-section shall not reduce the rates unequally as between employers and employed persons.

Dr. MACNAMARA

I beg to move, in Sub-section (1) to leave out the word "First" ["specified in Part II of the First Schedule to the principal"] and to insert instead thereof the word "Third."

This is purely a drafting Amendment, to correct a printer's error.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr. T. THOMSON

I beg to move, in Sub-section (3), after the word "twopence" to insert the words "or increase the benefits payable."

The purpose of this Sub-section is to give the Minister power, if he desires later, to decrease the amount of contributions payable by the employer and the employed. The suggestion is that the actuaries in drawing up the scale have made more provision than was necessary for the benefits payable, and that if that happy state of things occurred, the Minister has power to reduce the contributions payable under the Act. The Amendment gives the alternative power to increase the benefits which might be paid owing to the funds being more than the actuaries have anticipated. Once you have employers and employed in the habit of paying a certain sum it would be foolish to get them out of that habit and to reduce the benefits. The Minister of Labour has met the House on so many points that I feel sure he will agree to this change, which does not involve any extra cost to the Treasury or anyone else.

Dr. MACNAMARA

If the hon. Member will look at the last paragraph in the Second Schedule of the Bill, he will see that what he asks is already provided in the Bill.

Amendment negatived.

Clause, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.